THE SCHOOL BOARD OF

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA

MINUTES, DECEMBER 12, 2003

   The School Board of Escambia County, Florida, convened in Workshop Meeting at 9:00 a.m., in the Board Room, at the Dr. Vernon McDaniel (Administration) Building, 215 West Garden Street, Pensacola, Florida, with the following present:

            Chairman:                     Mrs. Cary Stidham                    Vice Chairman:             Dr. John DeWitt           

            Board Members:           Mrs. Carissa Bergosh

                                                Mr. Ronnie L. Clark

                                                Ms. Linda Finkelstein 

            School Board Attorney:              Mr. Francisco M. Negron, Jr. 

Superintendent of Schools:         Mr. Jim Paul 

        I.            CALL TO ORDER

Mrs. Stidham called the Regular Workshop to order at 9:00 a.m.

A.     Open Discussion 

a)      Citizens Advisory Committee – Cary Stidham

      (NOTE: Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) refers to the following: CAC for Finance, CAC for Facilities, CAC for Technology and Curriculum, and CAC for Human Resources and Minority Recruitment and Retention.)  Due to the “sparse” attendance at most of the monthly CAC meetings, the Board collectively agreed to schedule all future meetings on an “as needed basis,” with the exception of the meetings of the CAC for Human Resources and Minority Recruitment and Retention.  Board Members believed that it was vital to continue meetings with the CAC for Human Resources on a “regular basis,” due to issues that the District was currently dealing with regarding minority recruitment and retention. 

Special Meeting

      The Board collectively agreed to schedule a Special Meeting on January 15, 2004, at 9:00 a.m., in the Board Room, at the Dr. Vernon McDaniel Building, to address issues on policies to be presented for advertising and/or adoption at the January Regular Meeting. 

Social Studies Curriculum for 2004-2005 School Year 

      As suggested by Ms. Finkelstein, the Board requested that staff give a presentation regarding “Social Studies Curriculum for 2004-2005 School Year” at the January 15, 2004 Special Meeting. 

Update on “Master Calendar”

      [NOTE: The following discussion refers to Board action from the May 20, 2003 Regular Meeting, regarding the development of a web-based “Master Calendar.”  This issue was last addressed at the September 19, 2003 Regular Workshop.]  Upon inquiry by Dr. DeWitt, Mr. Don Manderson, Director of Instructional Technology, gave a brief update regarding the development of a web-based “Master Calendar” for the District.

“Take Your Legislator to School Day”

      Dr. DeWitt stated that he would add an item to the December 16, 2003 Regular Meeting agenda, entitled “Take Your Legislator to School Day.”

Fast ForWord Software

      Upon inquiry by Mr. Clark, Mrs. Yvonne Gray, Director of Exception Student Education (ESE), stated that Board Members would need to contact the Fast ForWord coordinator or technician at a school in order to access that particular schools’ Fast ForWord data.     

     II.            COMMENTS FROM SUPERINTENDENT

The Superintendent listed the additions, deletions, corrections and amendments to the agenda. 

Due to time constraints, the following item was moved forward on the agenda:

Easement for Water and Sewer at Bellview Middle (Item V.E.1.B.2)

Mr. Negron stated that he had requested a few changes to the easement, however, those changes did not appear on the copy provided in the backup documentation.  Mr. Shawn Dennis, Assistant Superintendent for Operations, indicated that a corrected copy of the easement would be provided prior to the December 16, 2003 Regular Meeting. 

   III.            COMMITTEE/DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS

1.       Custodial Reorganization Update Presentation

Mr. Chuck Peterson, Acting Director of Maintenance introduced Mr. James Beagle, who had recently assumed the position of Assistant Director of Custodial Services.  Mr. Peterson then gave a brief update on the reorganization of custodial services.  

(NOTE: The Superintendent left at 9:45 a.m.)

ADD          2.   Charter School Quarterly Report

      Mr. Charles Thomas, Director of Alternative Education, provided the Board with a copy of the “Charter School Quarterly Report” for December 2003.  He stated that in his opinion, charter schools were “doing a much better job of meeting the required elements of law” and “complying with the things that we request of them through our contract.”  

ADD          3.   Update from Superintendent’s Council on Teacher Recruitment and Retention

      Mrs. Mary Helen Fryman, Director of Instructional, Professional/Technical and Administrative Personnel, briefly reviewed information provided to the Board, regarding minority employee demographics.

  IV.            PROPOSED ADDITIONS OR REVISIONS TO SCHOOL DISTRICT RULES

(NOTE: This issue was previously addressed at the December 11, 2003 Special Meeting.)  Mrs. Stidham noted that the Board had requested that a “Magnet School/Choice Program Selection Policy” be presented for advertisement at the December 16, 2003 Regular Meeting.  Mrs. Leslie Travis, Office of School Choice Coordinator, indicated that the information was forthcoming. 

     V.            CONSENT AGENDA

A.     Curriculum and Instruction

                  1.               User Agreement/Contract Summary Pensacola Civic Center and School District of Escambia County, Florida

      Mrs. Stidham noted that the backup documentation for this item would need to be re-submitted, with an indication of Mr. Negron’s review and approval.

                  2.               Cooperative Agreement Between the Florida Department of Education/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the School Board of Escambia County, Florida

      Ms. Finkelstein noted that the “executive summary sheet” for this item indicated that this agreement was previously approved at the September 23, 2003 Regular Meeting (Item V.A.11), however, the Florida Department of Education/Division of Vocational Rehabilitation had refused to sign the agreement due to the Risk Management Addendum.  She questioned whether the Board would need to rescind its action from September before taking any action on this item.  Mr. Negron suggested that the “executive summary sheet” for this item be revised, to indicate a recommendation that the Board “substitute this agreement for the previous agreement.” 

                  6.               Agreement Between the School Board of Escambia County, Florida and Child Care Training Coordinating Agency, the Okaloosa Walton Child Care Services, Inc.

      Ms. Finkelstein noted that the backup documentation for this item would need to be re-submitted, with an indication of Mr. Negron’s review and approval.

B.     Finance

10.      Proposed 2004-2005 Budget Calendar

      (NOTE: According to School Board Rule 6Gx17-5.01(2)(b), “A budget calendar shall be presented to the board for adoption in December of each year.  The budget calendar shall include appropriate timelines for the presentation of school level staffing allocation plans and the departmental personnel planning document.  The dates prescribed for adoption, advertisement and hearings shall be in accordance with TRIM guidelines.”)  Upon inquiry by Dr. DeWitt, Mrs. Laura Shaud, Director of Budgeting, stated that the budget calendar itself, did not address the Strategic Plan, as they were “separate” items.  She explained that in order to determine funding priorities, staff would consider the Strategic Plan during the budgeting process, the Strategic Plan itself, would not affect the budget calendar. 

C.     Human Resource Services

1.       Instructional/Professional

d.       Out-of-Field

4.       Other

Bragg, Donald                           Teacher                        Pensacola                     09/13/03

      Ms. Teenie Wehmeier, Certification Manager, explained that Mr. Bragg had been certified in the area History, but requested that it be removed from his certificate, as he no longer wished to teach that subject.  Mr. Bragg then took the assignment of a History course without notifying his principal that he had the area removed from his certificate.  In September when his new certificate was issued, he then reflected on the out-of-field report.  Ms. Wehmeier noted that this was the second course that Mr. Bragg had removed from his certificate.  

                  3.   Risk Management

                        b.   Dental Plan – Proposed Plan Changes

      Mr. Kevin Windham, Director of Risk Management, explained that the Board approved the budget for the 2003-2004 fiscal year, which included a reduction of $200,000 from the dental plan.  It was anticipated that the reduction could be obtained by changing to a Preferred Provider Network (PPO) program, however, after further review it was determined that any cost savings realized from participating in a PPO would have been offset by an increase in administrative fees.  Since it was determined that changing to a PPO was not feasible, the following proposals were considered for obtaining a $200,000 cost savings from the existing plan:

1)      “Option A” – increase the deductible from $100 to $150 with a maximum of 3 per family; or

2)      “Option B” - decrease the percentage of co-insurance from 90% to 75% of the first $125 in expenses.

Mr. Windham stated that a meeting was held with the Insurance Committee to discuss the two proposals and after much discussion, the Committee approved “Option A”, as they believed that employees would be least affected by that option as opposed to “Option B”.  He noted that the recommendation as presented, was that the Board approve “Option A,” to increase the deductible from $100 to $150 per plan year starting January 1, 2004.  Dr. DeWitt and Ms. Finkelstein were concerned that when they had voted to the approve the budget for the 2003-2004 fiscal year, they were under the impression that the reduction of $200,000 from the dental plan could be obtained by changing to a PPO.  Dr. DeWitt believed that approving the proposed plan changes would only “make a bad plan worse.”  He suggested that the Board reject the proposed plan changes and instead, “figure out some other way to save the $200,000.”  

D.     Purchasing

                  6.   Enterprise Server Processor for Information Technology Department

      Mrs. Stidham questioned why staff was requesting the “purchase of an expensive piece of equipment before the consultant that we’ve hired has even had a chance to come in and tell us what we are doing right or wrong?”  In response, Mr. Bill Bush, Director of Management Information Systems, stated that information had been forwarded to Board Members, regarding the consultant’s support of this purchase.

13.   Data Mining Software

(NOTE: The Superintendent left at 11:45 a.m.)

14.               Transportation of Teen Parents and Their Children

      (NOTE: This item was previously approved by the Board at the July 22, 2003 Regular Meeting.)  Mr. John Dombroskie, Director of Purchasing and Business Services, stated that Intelitran Community Transportation gave notice that they would cease service as of December 1, 2003, and therefore, the State had now contracted with Pensacola Bay Transportation to provide service through the end of the school year.  Upon inquiry by Mrs. Stidham, Mr. Dombroskie stated that “all fees remain the same through this contract – it is just a different company that we are going to pay.” 

E.      Operations

1.       Facilities Planning

B.     Miscellaneous

      2.   Easement for Water and Sewer at Bellview Middle

                                          This item was addressed earlier in the meeting. 

                              3.   Property Purchase for Suter Elementary

      (NOTE: The “executive summary sheet” for this particular item read as follows: “Request Board approval to proceed with the property purchase of 2912 East Cervantes for Suter Elementary School.  Upon approval of attached sales contract by Real Estate Attorney, sales contract will be placed on Operations agenda for final Board approval in January 2004.”)  In response to a comment made by Mr. Shawn Dennis, Assistant Superintendent for Operations, that this was basically an “informational item,” Mr. Negron suggested that the “executive summary sheet” be revised to indicate that “no action was requested of the Board.” 

                  6.   Information Technology

A.     Miscellaneous

1.   District Cellular Telephony and Radio Guidelines 

      Mrs. Stidham was concerned with the guidelines as presented with regard to the clarity of different levels of users and also how disciplinary action (relating to infraction in cell phone usage) would be approached.  Mr. Shawn Dennis, Assistant Superintendent for Operations, stated that staff would revise the guidelines to address Mrs. Stidham’s concerns and present them in January.  

F.      Student Transfers

                        No discussion was held.

G.     Internal Auditing

                        No items were submitted. 

  VI.            UNFINISHED BUSINESS

No items were submitted. 

VII.            NEW BUSINESS

A.     Items from the Board         

1.       Population Trends of Northern Escambia County and How They Relate to the School District – Linda Finkelstein (workshop item only)

      Ms. Finkelstein expressed concerns regarding population trends in the northern region of Escambia County, specifically regarding middle school facilities (i.e., Ernest Ward, Ransom).  She requested that staff assess the following suggestions for relieving middle school capacity issues: 1) construction of additional classrooms at Ransom Middle School; 2) construction of stand alone 6th grade facility at Ransom Middle School; 3) retention of 6th graders at Molino Park Elementary. 

      B.   Items from the Superintendent

                  No discussion was held.

      C.   Items from the General Counsel

                  No discussion was held. 

VIII.            ADJOURNMENT

            There being no further business, the Regular Workshop adjourned at 12:10 p.m.

            Attest:                                                              Approved:

________________________________                    ________________________________

Superintendent                                                  Chair